中国结——ChineseKnot

据《周易·系辞》载：“上古结绳而治，后世圣人易之以书目契。”由此可见，中国结始于先民的结绳记事，结绳为其起源。

结绳二字，各有寓意。“结”与“吉”谐音，“吉”本义为吉祥，而福、禄、寿、喜、财、安、康也全都属于这一范畴。因而，中国结除了具有吉祥的寓意之外, 还有“吉庆有余”“福寿双全”等组合寓意。“绳”与“神”谐音，据记载：“女娲引绳在泥中，举以为人。”因为绳像蟠曲的蛇龙，而中国人正是龙的传人，所以在史前时代，龙神的形象是用绳结的变化来体现的。

The Origin of Chinese Knot

东汉郑玄在《周易注》中道：“结绳为记，事大，大结其绳，事小，小结其绳。”由此可见，“结”被先民们赋予了记载历史的文化功能，可以说，它是文字的前身。同时，其承载着“契”和“约”的法律表意寓意。

除了具备实际功能之外, 中国结还有很多美好的寓意。比如，中国人在表达情爱方面往往采用委婉、隐晦的形式，因而“结”义不容辞地充当了男女相思相恋的信物。人们将缕缕丝绳编制成结，赠与对方，万千情爱，绵绵思恋也都蕴含其中。南北朝梁武帝诗有“腰间双绮带, 梦为同心结”。宋代诗人林逋有“君泪盈、妾泪盈，罗带同心结未成，江头潮已平”的诗句。一为相思，一为别情，都是借“结”来表达情意。

The Functions of Chinese Knot

Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in Notes on The Book of Changes that "Using knotted tope for simple reckoning. The importance of things is reflected by the size of the knot." It can be seen that the knot was endowed by the ancestors with the cultural function of recording history. In other words, it is the predecessor of characters. At the same time, it carries the legal meaning of deed and covenant.

Aside from its practical functions, Chinese knot has a great number of beautiful meanings. For example, Chinese people often use euphemism and obscurity in expressing love, so knot is duty bound to act as a token of love between men and women. People weave strands of silk rope into a knot and give it to each other. Thousands of love and endless yearning are also contained in it. The poems of Emperor Wu of Liang in the northern and Southern Dynasties have "Double ribbon on the waist, and dreams are concentric knots". Lin Bu, a poet of Song Dynasty, wrote a poem: "The tears of the emperor and the tears of the concubine, the knot of Luo Dai has not yet been completed, and the tide of the river has been leveled." One is Acacia, the other is farewell. They all express their affection by knot.